The Man Next Door
by Carebeark5
Summary: A new man moves in next door to Lulu.
1. Chapter 1

Lulu took her lemonade out to the front porch, it was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and everyone seemed to be outside. A truck pulled into the driveway next door followed by a moving van which parked on the street out front. 'Look's like were about to get some new neighbors.' Lulu thought to herself hoping they would be friendly.

Setting down her empty glass she noticed the man climb out of the truck and move to the back of the van as two other people helped him unload boxes.

"Hey," Maxie said coming up behind her as she took a seat on the porch swing next to Lulu.

"Hey, where's Spinelli. You two have been attached at the hip lately."

"I told him I wanted to spend some time with you today,"Maxie replied. "We haven't seen each other enough lately."

"Wait who is that?" Maxie said as she noticed the man walk from the truck to the house carrying a large box.

"I dunno, some new guy moving in."

"He is hot." Maxie said. Lulu was not surprised her friend was anything but subtle. "You should go talk to him."

"What? No way."

"Why not just introduce yourself as his new neighbor and scope out if hes single or not."

"Maxie."

"What just because I'm taken doesn't mean I can't live vicariously through you. So go for it."

"No way."

The next day as Lulu was taking a shower she heard the sound of glass shattering down the hall. Wondering what it was she wrapped a towel around herself and went to check it out. In the living room she noticed that the front window was shattered and a baseball lay on the wood floor. "What the hell?" Lulu cried as she looked out the window to see the man next door drop a bat and walk towards her front door.

She heard him knock before she threw open the front door, "Hey can I get my ball back?" was the first thing the man said. 'No apologies,' she thought to herself he just wanted to get back to his game.

"What?? You just shattered my window my that ball, so no you cannot have it back."

"Look I'm sorry about the window it was an accident. Are you really gonna hold my ball hostage?"

"Humph." Lulu slammed the door in his face.

Picking up the ball she threw it into a drawer before heading back to the bathroom to finish getting dressed before work. She was glad she hadn't taken Maxie's advice yesterday the guy next door was a total jerk. There was no way she would date a guy like him.


	2. Chapter 2

After work Lulu was sitting in Kelly's with Maxie, "So did you see that guy again?"

"I don't want to talk about it, alright."

"Fine, geez you have been in a bad mood all day. What is with you?"

"Nothing."

"Sure,"Maxie said as she sipped her water.

Just then the door opened and Maxie looked up to see Lulu's new neighbor standing there. As he walked towards the counter he spotted Lulu and stopped at their table, "Hey your the girl who wont give me my ball back. Wait that came out wrong," he said with a laugh.

"Hi, I'm Maxie this is Lulu."

"It's nice to meet you and to finally know your name." he said with a grin.

"Why don't you sit with us." Maxie said with a smile as she noticed the look on Lulu's face.

"I'd love to." he said sitting next to Lulu.

"I'm Dante by the way."

"So Dante what do you do?" Maxie said ignoring her friends death glances.

"I'm a cop at the PCPD."

"Oh really then you must know Lulu's brother, Lucky."

"Yes I just met him yesterday, I didn't know he was your brother."

"Yeah he is, uh Maxie can I talk to you for a second. Alone?"

"Uh...ok one sec Dante we'll be right back." Maxie said as she followed Lulu outside. "What is up with you? Your being rude."

"I'm being rude, this morning he hit a baseball through my living room window and he didn't even bother to apologize or offer to pay for it."

"It was probably just an accident Lulu and he'll probably fix it for you but right now he is in there and he wants to talk to you."

"If I go back in there you are going to owe me big time." Lulu replied with a sigh of defeat.

"Fine but I'm just looking out for your best interests here."

"Sure ya are."

Opening the door they walked back into Kelly's and took their seats. "Hey, hope you two weren't talking about me."

Maxie laughed, "No of course not." As she glanced at Lulu who looked like she wanted to kill her.

That night Lulu was making herself a pot of tea as she looked out her kitchen window she spotted her new neighbor inside his house. It turned out their windows looked right into each others and she could see him hammering a piece of wood with no shirt on. For some reason she felt she couldn't tear away her eyes away. He must have felt her gaze because when he looked up he caught her staring at him which caused her to look away quickly. She hoped he hadn't really seen her but she couldn't be sure and she didn't want to risk it by checking.

Lulu awoke the next morning to the sounds of hammering and loud voices, whoever it was it sounded like they were inside her house. 'What the hell,' Lulu said as she glanced at her alarm clock seeing that it was very early.

Walking into her living room she noticed two men fixing her front window, the one Dante had broken the day before. "Excuse me, What's going on?" Lulu asked.

"Oh Dante asked us to fix your window for you." the man said as he turned around.

Lulu made her way down the front steps and crossed the lawn to knock on Dante's door, "Fixing my window at 7AM?" she asked.

"I thought you wanted it fixed. You wouldn't give me my ball back until I did so here, it's fixed." Dante said gesturing to her window.

"Yeah but its 7AM." Lulu said angrily.

"How about I take you out to breakfast, to get away from the noise?"

"Sigh, fine. But this doesn't mean i like you now." She said as she turned to go back to her house to change.

"Not yet," he yelled after her.

Dante had to admit the girl next door was interesting. He liked knowing that he could get to her like he did, but he also knew he wasn't ready for anything serious. The last relationship he had been in, the girl had broken his heart and ever since then he had been guarding his heart more around women. But that didn't mean he couldn't flirt with Lulu Spencer.


	3. Chapter 3

Dante waited outside for Lulu to come back so they could go to breakfast. Her turned seeing her come down the stairs in a pair of tight fitting jeans and a t-shirt and he had to admit she was beautiful.

"Hey you ready to go?"

"Yeah but when we get back those guys better be done." She replied as she climbed into his car. She knew she never should have accepted his invitation to breakfast but she was hungry and she hadn't had the chance to go grocery shopping lately. Not to mention there was no chance in her going back to sleep after being roused from a good nights sleep.

Arriving at Kelly's they took a seat as Mike walked over, "Hey Lulu who's your friend.?" he asked.

"Oh he's not my friend, he's just my next door neighbor."

"Dante Falconeri," Dante said as he offered his hand.

"Olivia's son?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well it's nice to meet you. What can I get you two?"

Just then Lucky walked in he was talking to someone on the phone and almost headed right by Lulu, when he noticed her out of the corner of his eye. "Hey sis."

"Lucky, hey."

"Aren't you gonna introduce me?" Dante asked with a smirk.

"Lucky this is Dante, Dante my brother Lucky." Lulu said with a sigh.

"One second Tracy, she's right here. Lulu you still coming to dinner tonight?" Lucky asked with his hand over the receiver.

"Yeah I'll be there."

"Tracy says you can bring your new friend." Lucky said turning to face Dante.

"What no, he is not my friend." Lulu objected.

"What sure we are. You know you like spending time with me." Dante replied.

"In your dreams."

"I would love to come to dinner tonight." Dante said ignoring her remark.

Lulu could not believe her brother had actually invited the guy to dinner, he would pay for this in the worst way possible.

Dante knocked on Lulu's door later that evening, opening the door she brushed past him. "Come on, hurry up. I just wanna get this over with."

"Come on Lulu don't be like that, you know your family will just love me."

"Yeah right have you met my family. They don't like anyone."

"I'm sure your wrong. Just because they didn't like your old boyfriends doesn't mean they wont like me. Everyone likes me." he said jokingly. He knew that his comments got to her and that was the whole reason he said them, he liked pushing her buttons.

Lulu reminded herself to count to ten in her head so as not to explode at this comments, she knew whatever she said he would just come up with another smart ass comment. Climbing in her car she put the keys in the ignition as Dante climbed in the passenger seat as she tore away from the curb.

Arriving at the Haunted Star Lulu stepped aboard followed by Dante, "Your family owns this place?" he asked looking around.

"Yeah." Lulu said walking briskly as he tried to keep up.

"Hey Princess." Luke said from behind the bar.

"Hey."

"Who's your friend?" Ethan asked walking into the room.

"Trust me he's not my friend. Lucky invited him." she said taking a seat on one of the stools as Luke poured her a drink.

"Dante Falconeri, your future son-in-law it's a pleasure to meet you." Dante said as he extended a hand to Luke who looked at it but didn't take it causing Dante to pull back his hand. Maybe she was right, her family wasn't so friendly after all but he knew he would still enjoy spending some time with his new neighbor. There was just something about her that he just couldn't put a finger on. He looked over at Lulu who was giving him the evil eye.


	4. Chapter 4

"Can I pour you two a drink?" Luke asked from his spot behind the bar.  
"I'll take a beer," Dante replied as one of Lulu's brothers grabbed his arm.  
"Hey mate can I talk to you for a sec." Dante followed him to a quieter corner of the room, "So your here with my sister. Exactly what are your intentions?"  
"Your talking to your future brother-in-law, but she doesn't know it yet." He answered turning to look at her from across the room with a smile on his face.  
"Right? Well you better watch it, she has three very protective older brothers who will pound you into the ground if you ever hurt her."  
"I don't plan on it." Dante said taking a swig of his beer.

Making his way across the room he took a seat next to Lulu, "Hey did ya miss me?" he asked with a grin. He knew he was getting on her last nerve with the look she gave him when she turned to greet his gaze.  
"In your dreams." She snapped.  
"Your always in my dreams babe." he said with a wink.  
"Oh god, it never ends with you does it?"  
"Come on you know you like it. Secretly deep down."  
"Whatever you wanna believe."  
Dante noticed a card table over nearby, "Hey how about a game of cards?" he asked.  
"Anything to change the subject." she said standing and heading over to the table. "It's gonna feel great to beat you." She told him as she shuffled the cards expertly.  
"There's no way you'll beat me." he said taking a seat across from her.  
"Don't be too sure about that. My dad taught me how to play cards as soon as I was able to hold the deck."  
"How about we sweeten the deal then. If I win I get to take you on a date and your going to enjoy it. No complaining the whole time." He said picking up his hand.  
"And when I win you'll leave me alone and stop with the come-ons."  
"Alright deal."

"Prepare to lose." Lulu said taking a seat at the card table as Dante took a seat across from her.  
"Don't be too sure I will." He said with a smirk.  
"Just deal the cards." She said pointing to the deck. Dante shuffled and dealt out the cards watching as she picked up her hand. 'Alright he has got to lose this, there is no way I am going on a date with this guy.' she thought to herself.  
'She is going down and then she'll have no choice but to go out with me.' he thought as she placed a card down on the table.  
"Hit me." she said as he flipped over another card. 'Ha there is no way he can top that one.' she said holding back a smile.

After playing for a little while Dante could tell she was really good at cards but he had been playing all his life so he knew there was still a chance he could beat her. But this was not something he wanted to chance, he really wanted to beat her. To see that look on her face when she knew she had lost to him and would have to go on that date she had promised. He had no choice, he knew he had to cheat.

Lulu was glad that her father had taught her everything he knew, she was an ace at cards since she was old enough to pick up a deck. She could play and win with the best of them, but who knew her annoying neighbor would be her match. She had no choice, she knew she had to cheat.

Dante flipped over his cards with a smile, 'there is no way she could beat that.' he thought to himself. Lulu reluctantly flipped over cards. She had lost to her annoying next door neighbor and now she had no choice but to go on a date with him.  
"Look like I win," Dante said with a smirk as he took a sip of his beer.  
"I think you cheated."  
"Well I happen to know for a fact Ms. Spencer that we both cheated, but a bets a bet. I still beat you so I'll see you tomorrow at 7:30."  
Ew, she hated men who thought they were gods gift to women. He was just so damn cocky and not only did she had to put up with living next door to the guy but now she had to go on a date with him. "Just because were going on a date doesn't mean I have to like it." Lulu said as a parting reply as she got up and walked away leaving Dante sitting there alone.

Dante decided to take Lulu out for dinner, he wanted to get to know her better, wanted to know what made her tick. Sure she acted like she didn't want to be around him but there was something about her that intrigued him. She was beautiful, feisty, and told it like it was. She didn't take crap from no one and he liked that about her. He wanted to take her somewhere special and talk to her make her see that he wasn't as bad as she seemed to think he was.

Knocking on her door, he could hear footsteps approaching the door. She was beautiful in deep purple dress that seemed to hug every curve of her body. "You look beautiful." He told he and she could tell that he meant it.  
"Thank you." She said stepping outside and shutting the door behind her.  
He was wearing dark dress pants with a white dress shirt and she had to admit he looked very handsome, 'Too bad his personality didn't match.' she thought to herself as she climbed into his car.  
"Where are we going?"  
"I'm taking you to that fancy italian restaurant down by the pier." he said as he pulled out on the road.

Arriving at the restaurant he held the door for her as she stepped inside, the place was really nice. She had never been here before but she had always passed it when she took walks along the pier. It seemed packed tonight and she was surprised he would even think to take her here. Dante stepped up to the hostess and mentioned his name.  
"I'm sorry sir but you came a little too late we're all filled now."  
"But I had a reservation."  
"Yes I know but we had to give your spot away when you didn't show up at the specified time."  
"I'm only five minutes late."  
"I'm sorry there's nothing I can do."

They headed back out to the car, "I'm really sorry about this I really wanted to take you somewhere special."  
"It's fine we'll just go somewhere else." Lulu said not caring where they ate dinner she just wanted to get this night over with.  
"How about Jake's?" he asked. "I mean I know were a little over dressed but..."  
"Yeah Jake's will be just fine."

After eating their dinner they decided to play a game of pool, Lulu leaned over to make a her shot when a guy grabbed her ass. "Hey!" she said angrily as she spun around seeing some drunk guy standing behind her.  
"You a pretty one 'aint you."  
"Don't ever touch me again." she said gripping the pool cue in hands.  
"And feisty too." the man said with a smile and wink as Dante came out of nowhere and punched him.  
"Dante!" she said trying to stop him as he knocked the guy onto the floor.  
"Don't you ever talk to her like that again." Dante said looking down at the drunk guy who was now sprawled out on the floor.  
"Um...Dante maybe we should get out of here." she said seeing Coleman's face as he witnessed the fight taking place in his bar.  
"Yeah come on." he said gripping her hand in his as he pulled her out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

As they stepped outside Lulu turned to him, "Look I don't think this date thing is going to work out. You should take what just happened as a sign."  
"I don't believe in signs," Dante answered.  
"Can you take me home now?"  
"No, I don't want to. Not yet, besides you owe me a date remember. It will end when I say it ends."  
"Look I think this date was over long before the fight at Jake's. Don't you get it I don't date and even if I did I wouldn't date you," Lulu said as she followed him to his car. "Just take me home and we can forget this ever happened."  
"I'll take you home after we go for a drive," Dante said over the roof of the car. "Now get in."

Lulu sighed as she slid into the seat beside him, 'Who did this guy think he was? Forcing her to go on a date with him. Well he had another thing coming if he thought she would fall all over herself by his attempt at Charm.' Dante headed down one road and then another, "Where are we going anyways?" she asked looking around. She hadn't been paying attention to where they were going and she had never even seen this part of town before. "Do you even know where we are?"  
"Of course I do," he lied.

All of a sudden they heard a thump as the car pulled to right, "Darn it, I think we got a flat." Dante said as he unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car to check. Poking his head back inside he assured her that it was indeed a flat tire. "It's too dark to change the tire now, I won't be able to see what I'm doing. Looks like well have to wait until first light," he said as he climbed back into the car.  
"Wait, you're a cop. How do you not have a flashlight?"  
"I don't carry it with me unless I'm on duty."  
"Well can't you call roadside assistance or something?" she asked desperate to get out of here. She just wanted to go home and forget that she even had to endure an evening with this guy. She watched as he pulled out his cell phone, "Nope no service," he said as he flipped it shut and tossed it on the dashboard.  
'Man she must think I'm an idiot. This whole date had been one disaster after the next, now she'll never go out with me again,' he thought to himself.  
"Did you do this on purpose just so you wouldn't have to bring me home right away? Cause I swear it seems like you've gotten your way all night long."  
"You caught me. It was my plan all along to miss our reservation, wind up at Jake's and let some guy grab your ass. Just so I could punch him out and we would be forced to leave and then to top it all off get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire," Dante said turning to look at her.  
"Well when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous," she said as they both laughed.

The next few minutes were spent in an awkward silence before Dante said, "So what do you have against dating anyway?"  
"I don't have anything against dating. I just don't go on them anymore, I just don't see the point."  
"The point is to find someone to spend your life with. To talk to and laugh with, don't you want that?"  
"Not if I wind up hurt in the end because that's what it always comes down to."  
"Well how will you know if you don't give it a shot. You may find someone who won't hurt like all the others but if you don't put yourself out there," Dante told her finally understanding why she was so against going on a date in the first place.  
"Why bother love never lasts. It's just an illusion until one person hurts the other and someone usually ends up alone." she said turning to look out the window. "No thanks, been there done that. I would rather be alone than go through all that again. So why aren't you with anyone?" she questioned turning to face him again.  
"Just haven't met the right girl."  
"What exactly is the "right girl"?" she asked wondering what his type was.  
"Someone honest, she can make me laugh, family should be important to her, I can talk to her about anything."  
"And why would you think I'm that girl? My family is a mess and that's when they're around," she said. All of a sudden she got really quiet. "And I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It must be really boring hearing me go on and on about myself."  
"No your not boring me, I like knowing more about you." Dante said with a smile. "Sometimes you just need someone who will listen and my ears are here for you anytime."

'Maybe he wasn't so bad after all,' she thought to herself. 'But why am I telling him things I never told anyone except Maxie. She couldn't tell whether he was just being nice or if he was genuinely interested in her. But he wasn't hard to talk to, for some reason he put her at ease. Just the thought of being that comfortable with him scared her. She didn't want to get hurt again, no she couldn't.'  
"Why would you even want to hear about all my problems?" she asked him.  
"Because Lulu that's what people do when they care," he told her reaching out to touch her hand. As his hand touched hers a calm, warm feeling came over her that she hadn't felt in a long time and it scared her. She probably hadn't felt that feeling since she was a little girl, when he mom was around. Pulling her hand away she turned and looked out the window so he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.

Dante just couldn't understand why she had pulled away, he thought he had been making progress. She had told him things about herself, personal things. He now knew that someone had hurt her deeply but she hadn't gone into detail. Whoever the jerk was he deserved to be tarred and feathered for hurting a wonderful girl like her. He hoped that she would open up to him eventually and he knew he wouldn't give up until she did, he wasn't one to give up. Not when there was something he really wanted. But he could see that now was not the time, she wasn't ready for him to know so he decided to change the subject to something less personal.  
They ended up talking about music and she told him that her dad had once owned a Jazz/R&B club in the late 90's and then they talked about their favourite foods his being anything Italian and hers being Kelly's french fries.

They had talked for most of the night before falling asleep. The sun was streaming in through the window and into Dante's eyes, he could feel Lulu's head resting on his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her so he stayed where he was, liking the feel of her against him. After a few minutes he felt her stir and then she jerked away from him. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. I hope you weren't uncomfortable with me sleeping on your shoulder like that."  
"Of course not, I kinda liked." Before she could comment he stepped out of the car to change the tire, stepping out with him she leaned against the nearby stop sign as she watched him. He effortlessly pulled the tire out of the trunk and carried it to the other side of the car which he had already jacked up. She thought back to last night even though their date was a disaster being stranded with him wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Maybe him being her neighbour wouldn't be the end of the world but despite their conversation last night, he hadn't changed her mind about dating him.

After changing the tire they were back on the road, it took a little while but they finally found their way back to the main road. Pulling into his driveway they both got out, "Well thanks for the interesting night. I guess I'll see ya later," she said turning around to head across the lawn to her house.  
"Yeah see ya," he said with a smile. He would change her mind about dating if it was the last thing he did. He just had to knock down those walls she had up around her heart. He just needed to figure out how to knock them down for good.

Dante didn't know many people in the neighbourhood so he wanted to do something to get to know his new neighbours. There was one neighbour in particular that he really wanted to get to know better and he hoped she would come. He decided the best way to meet people was to have a BBQ, his family always had them back home in Bensonhurst and practically the whole block would show up. Walking up the steps to her place he knocked on the door, after last night he hoped she would still talk to him. "Oh it's you." she said as soon as she opened the door.  
"Wow is that how you great all your neighbours?" he asked with a smile.  
"Nope I save that one for you," she said playing along.  
"Well I just came over to invite you to a BBQ at my place, I thought it might help me meet some of the new neighbours. And don't say you can't come cause you have to be there."  
"But you already know me so I guess I don't have to go," she said about to shut the door on him.  
"You have to be there to introduce me to the rest of the neighbourhood," he said stopping the door from closing.  
"Fine you want me to bring anything?" she asked.  
"Anything you want."  
"Well I make a mean potato salad."  
"I'll be looking forward to that then, tomorrow at 3:00."  
"Alright see ya."

The next day Dante grabbed his keys to head to the store, he wasn't sure how many people would show up but he wanted to make sure he had enough food for everyone. As he was pushing the cart down the aisle he spotted a familar blonde down near the vegetables. With a grin he pushed his buggy down the aisle pretending not to be paying attention as he bumped her cart. "Hey watch it," she said grabbing her cart before it careened into the shelf. "Oh it's you," she said recognizing him.  
"Well hello to you too."  
"Wow got enough food there?" she said pointing to his loaded cart.  
"I wanna make sure I have enough for everyone."  
"Well how many people did you invite?"  
"Ten."  
"Well I definitely think you have enough then."

By three everyone he invited had shown up except the one person he really wanted there, the whole reason he had decided to throw this BBQ in the first place. 'Where was she, she had said she would be there,' he wondered. He brought out another tray of snacks and placed them on the picnic table he was using for the food when he spotted her coming his way. "Hey sorry I'm late it took a little longer to finish the potato salad," she said handing him the covered dish.  
"No problem," he said casually as he brought her dish inside to put in the fridge until they were ready to eat. Turning around he noticed she had followed him inside and was standing on the other side of the counter.  
"You ready to meet everyone?" she asked.  
"Ready as ever."

Following her outside Lulu led him over to a couple standing under the shade of the large elm tree in his backyard, "Dante this is Sarah and Doug Davidson they live across the street from me. This is Dante Falconeri he just moved her from Bensonhurst."


	6. Chapter 6

After Lulu had introduced him to all the guests whispering little bits of information about each, Dante excused himself so he could go inside and get the meat ready to put on the grill. "Hey can I help by doing anything?" Lulu asked coming up beside him as he flipped a burger at the grill.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to help out. You are a guest like everyone else."

"I know but I don't mind."

"Um we do need the napkins I left them in the kitchen on the countertop." Dante told her as she turned and made her way to the door.

Lulu stepped inside and spotted the napkins where he said they would be, grabbing them she turned to go back outside when she spotted Ryan James from down the street. "Hi Lulu."

"Um hi Ryan," she said trying to be friendly as she tried to pass him to go back outside.

"Your looking hot today Lulu," he said as she squeezed past him. He was following her as she made her way over to the picnic table in the middle of the lawn so about halfway she stopped and turned, "What do you want?"

"I just wanna talk to you."

"Well I'm kinda busy." she said turning back around but before she could move any further he stepped in front of her and she crashed into him, napkins went flying everywhere.

"Great!" Lulu said as she bent down to pick up napkins scattered across the ground. Ryan bent down to help her, "I got it," she said taking the napkins from him angrily.

Dante spotted the whole thing from across the lawn and decided her should go over and rescue her, from the look on her face he could tell she needed it. "Lulu, it's alright you don't have to pick them up. I'll just get them later," Dante said grabbing her hand to help her up off the ground.

"Thanks man, Lulu and I were just talking." Ryan said handing Dante the napkins he had picked up.

"No we weren't talking." Lulu said to Ryan she didn't want to be near him he was always hitting on her and he never got the hint.

"Lulu honey I need to talk to you for a second."'Honey?' Lulu could have sworn she just heard Dante call her honey.

"You and Lulu are together?" Ryan asked obviously shocked that he was the last to know.

"Yeah um...we just started dating." Lulu said with a fake smile playing along as Dante put his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh sorry man I thought Lulu was single. Didn't mean to hit on your girl."

"What was that?" Lulu asked as soon as Ryan left.

"You looked like you needed saving." Dante said his arm still around her shoulders as he grinned.

"You can remove your hand now, he's gone."

"Yeah but I kinda like having my arm around you," Dante told her as Lulu gave him a look that said you better remove the arm or lose it.

"Alright, alright but soon enough you'll be begging me to have my arms around you." He said cockily before he headed across the lawn turning back long enough to send her a grin and wink.

'God the nerve of him. Acting like he's God's gift to women,' she thought to herself.

Dante made his way back to the grill flipping the burgers and turning the dogs as he thought about Lulu. He knew he was pushing her buttons but for some reason he just couldn't help it, she made it so easy and she was so cute when she was angry.

Lulu took a seat at the picnic table with some of the other women. "You are so lucky," one of the other women said.

"What?" Lulu asked not sure what she was referring to.

"Your boyfriend is hot," she said glancing across the yard to where Dante stood.

"Will you excuse me a second," she said rising from the table without commenting.

Stalking angrily across the grass she grabbed Dante's arm turning him to face her. "What did you tell people?"

"Just couldn't stay away, huh."

"We are not dating, there is no way I would date ever date you," she said nostrils flaring.

"Your cute when your mad, you know that. Besides we will be dating soon enough.

"I know I'm cute but as for dating you we'll just see about that," she said turning away.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dante was sitting at his desk at the PCPD waiting for something to happen. It had been a relatively quiet day at the station. Paperwork was the worst part of the job for him because he sw himself as a man of action. He needed to be doing something, making a difference somehow.

"Falconeri! We got a B and E at 1045 Canal Street." The dispatcher called out from her desk across the room.

"Canal Street, that's my street." He said grabbing his gun and badge and hurrying out to his vehicle.

He turned on the lights and siren as he headed for Lulu's place. He prayed everything would be alright when he got there. Pulling up out front Lulu was nowhere to be seen. He had hoped she would be outside waiting for the police where he knew she would be safe, but of course that wasn't the case. Heading towards the front door he called out to her with his hand on his gun just in case. He had no idea if they were still inside or if they had already fled the scene.

"Lulu!" He yelled as he looked in every room.

"Well it's about time you got here." Lulu said coming down the stairs.

"What do you mean I just got the call like five minutes ago." Dante said as she stopped in front of him.

"Five minutes too late you mean. The guy got away, with all my stuff," She said angrily.

He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Were you here when they broke in? Are you hurt?" He asked her.

She pushed his hand away, "No I came home to this mess and heard the guy upstairs. But when I went to go check it out he got away through the window upstairs."

"Why would you go upstairs to check, he could have had a gun. You could have been killed Lulu."

"I'm fine. I just want my stuff back."

"Do you know what all was taken?" He asked looking around and surveying the damage. Lamps were on the floor, chairs were flipped, couch cushions tossed and drawers were emptied of their contents.

"Of course." She said going from room to room and telling him what was missing as he took notes on a little pad of paper. "This wouldn't be necessary if you had come sooner," she mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that and I came as soon as I heard for your information."

"Whatever! Protect and serve and all that right?" She mumbled again to which he decided it was best not to respond. "Alright I think that's everything but they did get my grandma's ring and it meant a lot to me. I would really like to get it back, if possible."

"Do you happen to have a picture of the ring?" He asked capping the pen.

"No who takes a picture of their jewelry?"

"People who think it's valuable enough that if it were stolen they have something to give to the police. Can you give a description of it then?"

"It was gold with a red ruby in the shape of a heart and it had two diamond on either side."

"Alright well I'll do my best. Well get some guys in here to see if we can lift any prints but usually in these cases there aren't any."

"What if they come back?" She asked glancing around her trashed living room knowing the upstairs was the same way.

"They don't usually visit the scene a second time. It looks like your lock is busted why don't you stay at my place tonight and I'll fix it in the morning." He told her as they waited for the guys to come to sweep for prints. She really didn't want to have to stay with him, he was annoying and drove her crazy. But she knew it would be safer to stay with him at least until the lock was fixed besides Maxie was out of town so she couldn't even stay with her.

"Fine but only until you fix the lock." She told him making it clear she didn't want to stay with him.

After her house was combed through for fingerprints, Dante helped her grab a few things she would need for the night and they headed over to his place. "You can stay in here," he said showing her the room across from his that he was planning to use as a guest room. At the moment all that was in there was the bed and a small table but he planned to paint the walls and make it look nicer later on. "Sorry about the boxes in the corner I haven't exactly finished moving in yet."

"It's fine, thanks." She said dropping her bag onto the bed.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"Anything's fine with me." She said plopping down on the bed with a sigh.

"How about I order us a pizza?"

"Sounds great."

After figuring out what they wanted on their pizza Dante disappeared into the other room to order it. She made her way to the living room a little while later. "Pizza should be here in a few." He was right earlier when he said he hadn't unpacked much there was furniture and a few things like pictures on the fireplace mantel but other than that the room was sparse.

"Not much time to unpack?" She asked looking at the pictures on the fireplace.

"Nah, I've been busy with work. But eventually I'll have everything just the way I like. Why don't you have a seat, make yourself at home. You can watch tv or something I was just gonna hop in the shower real quick before the pizza gets here."

"Alright." She said as he headed down he hallway. She went and sat down on the couch and flicked on the tv, she had just settled on something when the phone rang. "Uh Dante, you want me to get that?" She called out then realized he probably couldn't hear her. So she grabbed the phone anyways, "Hello?"

"Hi is Dante there."

"Um he's busy who may I say is calling?"

"Just tell him it's Teresa."

"Ah alright I'll tell him." She said hanging up the phone. Here he is flirting with me all the time and he already has a girlfriend or whatever this woman was to him. Of course the guy was a player, she should have known from the beginning.


	8. Chapter 8

Lulu was watching TV when Dante entered the living room and sat down beside her on the couch. "Oh hey, someone named Teresa called while you were in the shower." She said without even bothering to look at him.

"Ah ok thanks. I'll call her back later. He glanced over at her and realized she wasn't acting like her usual self. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm just tired and aggravated. Today has just been the worst."

"Yeah I can understand that." Just then the doorbell rang, "Oh that must be our pizza." He said grabbing his wallet on the way to the door.

"Is it ok if I use your bathroom before we eat?"

"Of course." He said as she disappeared down the hall.

"Get over it Lulu." She said looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. She didn't know why this was even an issue it wasn't as if she even liked Dante. He was so cocky and arrogant and don't even get me started not hat ego of his. No she didn't care if he had a girlfriend or ten girlfriends, there was no way she would ever end up with a guy like him.

Dante had the table all set and she slid into a seat across from him. When she reached for a slice of pizza he was reaching for one at the same time and their hands touched for a second. "Go ahead." He told her waiting for her to grab a piece first.

"I'm sorry this is your house you can go first."

"No your my guest."

She smiled and reached for a slice, "Thank you." They ate in silence at first until Dante spoke up.

"So um.. do you like swimming?" He asked before realizing what a stupid question that was. 'Good one Dante, your definitely not on the top of your game when it comes to Lulu.' He thought to himself.

"Oh yeah I have always enjoyed swimming." She told him wondering why he had asked.

"We'll maybe sometime we can go swimming together?" The weather had been great lately, perfect for swimming pools and hanging out at the beach.

"Ya sure my friends and I go swimming all the time, you can join us if you want." She said just trying to be friendly.

"Sounds great." He said even though he was a little hurt that she didn't want to be alone with him. He thought they were actually getting somewhere but he could tell they were further off than he had thought.

They were sitting in silence once again neither knowing what to say to the other when the sound of a cellphone broke the silence. "I think that's yours." She said as he got up to grab it off the counter top.

"It's the PCPD I gotta take this." He told her as he accepted the call and started to walk out of the room. "Falconeri."

He came back a few minutes later, "I'm sorry about that but I gotta go into the station. Will you be ok here?" He asked as he grabbed his things.

"Ya I'll be fine here."

When she was alone she cleaned up their dishes and tossed the pizza box in the trash. She was still hung up on the fact that he had been flirting with her since they had met and being the player he is he also had women calling him. It was guys like him that really got to her. They were the very reason she didn't want to get into another relationship because she knew it would only open her up to more pain.

Trying to put it all out of her mind she flipped on the TV but quickly realized that there was nothing on. She got up and looked through the shelf of DVD's he had a similar taste in movies so she found one that she liked and popped it into the player. She was just getting into the movie when she heard a noise that made her jump. It sounded like it was coming from the backyard so she got up and made her way to the screen door and looked out. It was dark out and she didn't see anything. "It's probably just some animal that knocked over the garbage pails." She tried to tell herself as she turned around to go back to her movie.

Then she heard the sound of a branch breaking outside, "Your just paranoid because of the break in." She told herself with a laugh. She was back on the couch and half asleep when she heard a noise again but this time it sounded like knocking. She looked around for something to use as a weapon just in case and spotted Dante's signed baseball bat she grabbed it off the shelf and stepped towards the back door.

She jumped back as the glass shattered trying not to cut her bare feet she held the bat at the ready. But whoever was trying to break must have noticed her and fled, she couldn't really see much in the dark except the back of a person as they leapt over the bushes.

Lulu grabbed her cell phone and called Dante who told her he was coming home right away. "Lulu! Lulu! " he called as he raced into the living room where she was sweeping up the broken glass. "Are you ok?" He asked taking the broom from her and looking her over. He never should have left her alone, he should have been here.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure you aren't hurt?"

"Dante they ran away they must have seen me and fled. I'm fine really." She looked up and noticed that he was really worried about her. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she had thought.

"Did you see the guy?"

"No it was dark and they were wearing a hoodie."

They worked together to cover the window, "I got a few pieces of wood I was going to use for something else but we can use it to cover the window." She held the board as he hammered it into place along with a tarp to keep out the rain. "Alright that should do until I can get that glass fixed."


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you sure your ok?" He asked when they had finished.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think I'm just gonna head to be though," She told him.

"Oh alright. Goodnight then." He said as she turned and headed down the hall to her room.

Dante decided to head to bed as well since there wasn't much else he could do tonight. He promised himself he would get an early start tomorrow.

Lulu changed in the bedrooms adjoining bathroom before crawling under the covers. She looked around the room, taking it all in for the firs time. The walls were a light blue color which looked freshly painted.

The bedsheets and duvet were a darker blue and the room had only a bed and one smaller dresser. Boxes were piled atop it and along one wall in the room and in the other corner was a beautiful wooden desk. Atop it was a framed photo of a woman, she climbed out of bed and made her way over to it. Picking it up she couldn't help but wonder who the beautiful woman in it was.

After replacing it she went and climbed back into bed and closed her eyes trying to fall asleep.

Dante lay awake staring at the ceiling. He still felt horrible about what happened earlier, he never should have left her here alone. What if something had happened to her? He would never have been able to forgive himself. Frustrated he climbed out of bed and headed into the living room. If he couldn't sleep he might as well get some unpacking done, maybe it would tire him out.

Lulu couldn't sleep so she got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen to get something to drink. When she rounded the corner to go into the kitchen she spotted Dante in the living room unpacking some things from boxes. He wore a pair of low slung pajama pants and was bare chested.

She was staring and she knew it but she couldn't seem to help it. He was incredibly muscular and tanned and just...no she couldn't be having these thoughts about him. He was a jerk, a player and just not for her. All of a sudden he turned and caught her staring at him and she felt her face flame.

He smiled when he turned and saw her standing there. She was staring and he had caught her red-handed. "See something you like?" He asked standing up from the box he was looking through.

"Ooh is that one of your pick-up lines you use on women?" She asked not wanting to admit that she had been staring. "Cause if so it's a horrible one."

Dante stood there with his mouth open just staring at her, "Where the hell did that come from? I was just teasing you Lulu."

"Come on we both know your a player."

"A player? Where do you get that from?"

"One of your girls called earlier tonight, a Teresa."

"Careful Lulu your starting to sound like a jealous girlfriend. And for your information she's my cousin." He said storming from the room and heading straight for his bedroom. Leaving he standing there wondering what had just happened.


End file.
